How to Say Hello in Japanese: Konnichiwa and Beyond

The everyday way to say hello in Japanese is konnichiwa (こんにちは) — but it is really a daytime greeting, used from late morning until dusk. Early in the day people say ohayo gozaimasu (おはようございます), and once it is dark the greeting switches to konbanwa (こんばんは).

So the "right" hello depends on the clock. Get the timing close and you sound natural; lead every greeting with a small bow and you sound like you belong.

Konnichiwa is a daytime greeting

Konnichiwa (こんにちは) covers you from roughly late morning to early evening. It is friendly, polite, and safe with almost anyone — a shopkeeper, a stranger, a new acquaintance you have just been introduced to.

What it is not is an all-day word. Say it at 7 a.m. and it lands a little oddly, like greeting someone with "good afternoon" over breakfast.

Morning, evening, and casual hellos

Mornings belong to ohayo gozaimasu (おはようございます). With friends you can drop the tail and just say ohayo (おはよう). After dark, use konbanwa (こんばんは) — evening only, and it does not shorten into a casual form the way morning does.

For casual goodbyes among friends, ja ne (じゃあね), "see you," and mata ne (またね), "see you later," are the easy everyday options.

Moshi moshi: hello on the phone

One place konnichiwa never goes is the telephone. When Japanese people answer the phone, they say moshi moshi (もしもし) instead.

It is a hello reserved almost entirely for phone calls, and using it in person would sound strange. There is a genuine story behind why — our guide to moshi moshi tells it.

Otsukaresama desu: the workplace hello

Step into any Japanese workplace and you will hear a greeting the textbooks skip: otsukaresama desu (お疲れ様です). It has no clean English translation — somewhere between "hello," "thanks for your hard work," and "good to see you."

Coworkers say it when they pass in the hall, join a call, or clock out for the night. At the end of the day it shifts to the past tense, otsukaresama deshita (お疲れ様でした).

Why konnichiwa ends in は

Here is a charming detail: konnichiwa (こんにちは) is written with は, the character normally read ha — yet it is pronounced wa. That is because は here is the old topic particle, and the greeting began life as a longer phrase, roughly "as for this day..." before the rest simply fell away.

The same thing happened to konbanwa (こんばんは), once "as for this evening..." Knowing the origin makes the spelling stick — and it is a neat first peek at how Japanese particles work.

Keep learning Japanese

A greeting and a nod will carry you further in Japan than any phrasebook. Pick up more with our free Japanese greetings phrases, then practice saying each one out loud with audio and spaced repetition in the Pretalk app — a minute a day is enough to make konnichiwa feel automatic.